NEITHER the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of electric shock therapy nor the factors responsible for some of the untoward results of that procedure are well understood. Pronounced changes in the physiology of the body as a whole occur during convulsions, and it is therefore important to study them. A recent report by Silfverskiöld and Åmark1 described changes in venous pressure during electrically induced convulsions in man. It seemed desirable to make a further analysis of the changes observed, and the present report records the results of such a study.

MATERIAL AND METHODSFifty-five determinations were made on 12 patients, who ranged in age from 18 to 59 years; 11 subjects were women. The direct method of Moritz and von Tabora2 was used. A no. 18 or 19 gage needle was inserted into an antecubital vein, and readings were taken until a base line was reached, usually in